Are Wizards Tecnically Supernatural Creatures?
by deathraptor22
Summary: After Mitchell's death, Annie finds Merlin on park bench after he finds himslef transported to the 21th centurt, so she decieds to take him back to the B and B. Sorry, I'm new and not good at summeries. It's better than it sounds
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don not own **_**Being Human **_**or **_**Merlin. **_

When Annie first met Merlin she was feeling very lost. It had been two since, Mitchell died, since George killed him, and she still felt so...hollow, like she's been emptied out. She had spent the whole two week just sitting on the couch, staring up at ceiling, thinking about Mitchell. How much she loved him, how much she missed him, the fact that she was gone. She knew they have bigger problems, like the fact that vampire army could be knocking on their door any second, but she couldn't make herself think about anything else but Mitchell. Gorge and Nina had done the complete opposite, they were preparing like crazy for the vampire siege, decorating the house with crosses, stocking up on stakes, watching every vampire film ever made. In fact they were putting up yet _another _ when Annie said, "I'm gonna go to the park."

"Okay," George said, not really noticing her, "Be safe."

"What am I gonna do George?" Annie said, solemnly, "Die again?" Then she ghosted from the room, to the park.

Annie walked through the park watching children play, people exercise, lovers walk together hand in hand. But she was still in a daze. Her fog was only broken when she saw a boy and girl kissing, but only because it made her think about the first time Mitchell kissed her. They stilled lived, well, more accurately resided, in Bristol, and that Werewolf Tully had attacked her. He was just trying to comfort her, but in the moment they wound up kissing. She remember the kiss being light, and gentle, he told her that her kiss was cold and tingly. Suddenly she felt the need to sit down. She lowered herself onto a park bench, barely noticing she bumped something until she heard a someone go, "Uh!" Well, that and realizing the voice came from beside her. She turned to see that she had set down beside a boy in his early 20s with raven black hair, and big, but rather adorable ears, who appeared to be sleeping on the bench, with nothing but a brown coat for a blanket. "Sorry," She said, though she knew the poor kid couldn't here.

Which is why she was rather surprised when he said as he sat up, "I probably need to wake up anyway. The authorities have ran me off twice for loitering, whatever that means. "

"Wait a second," Annie said, still in a state of astonishment, "You can hear me?"

"Yes," The young man said in a of-course-I-can-hear-you-why-wouldn't-I tone, "And I can see you, too. You're really quite lovely, m'lady."

This really threw Annie. How could he see her? She could tell that Gorge was a werewolf, and Mitchell was a vampire when he met them, but except for the fact that he was dressed like he got separated from a Renaissance fair, he seemed pretty normal. Well, as normal as anyone who sleeps on a park bench could be. Maybe he could see her because he was crazy. Yes, that would make sense. You hear loads of crazy of people becoming homeless because they have mental problems and can't keep a job. But, no, that wasn't it. Now that her fog had lifted, she could since that there was something different about this kid.

Just then her thoughts were interrupted by him asking, "Why are you staring at me?"

Annie didn't anything for a moment than answered, "It's just usually people can't see me, because, and I know this is gonna sound crazy, you're gonna think I'm completely bonkers probably, but I should probably just get on with it."

"Yes." the boy said flatly, "Please."

"I'm a ghost," Annie said, calmly, "An usually the only people who can see me are vampires and werewolves. You're not either ones of those, are you?"

"No," the boy answered, hardly showing any emotion. Not exactly what Annie had expected.

"You're taking this rather well," She commented.

"Well," the boy-she really needed to ask this guy his name-answered, "Normally I would consider the possibility you're crazy."

"Only _consider _the _possibility_ ?" Annie asked, half shocked, half impressed with this strange was so clam in the face of-well, strangeness.

"If you knew what my life was usually like, you'd understand," The boy said, "But you see the way my life had been the past few days, this might be the most normal thing that's happened. "

"Well, what has been happening in your life the past few days?" Annie asked.

The boy paused a minute, considering something, then said, rather nervously, "I'm not sure I should tell you."

"Oh, come on," Annie urged, "If it helps I'll tell you how last week has been. Although, that does seem a bit personal, so why don't we just start with names, and work our way from there. I'm Annie." She extended her hand to shake.

The boy's blue eye, which until had been dull and listless, brightened a little as he took Annie's hand and said, "Merlin.''


	2. Chapter 2

"That's a nice name," Annie said, smiling ear-to-ear for the first time in days, first time since Mitchell died really, "Not a name you hear very often any more, except for, you know."

"No, I don't know," Merlin said, "Would you mind enlightening me?"

"Well," Annie began, "You have the one American sports guy, you have the bloke from _Amish Mafia, _ and then you have the wizard...hey, are you okay?" Annie noticed that at the word "wizard" Merlin's face lost what precious little color it had. "What was that last one?" He asked, his voice somewhat shaky.

"The wizard of ancient European legend," Annie said slowly, then she saw a gleam of recognition in his eye, and added, "Oh, you're remembering now."

"No,'' Merlin said, his voice sounding a little scared, "Really, I don't."

"What's with the shaky routine all of a sudden?" Annie asked, "Are you a wizard or something?"

Now he looked absolutely terrified. "I was only kidding," Annie said, "Why aren't you?" When Merlin didn't answer, Annie said, "Okay, I wanna try something. I'll ask a question and you'll blink once for yes, twice for no. Do you understand?"

Merlin blinked once.

"Good. Now, are you a wizard? "

He was still for a moment than at last, he blinked once.

In spite of herself, Annie gasped, "No way.''

"Yes," Merlin whispered.

"I've never met a wizard before." Annie said.

"There might be a reason for that," Merlin said, "People thought I was crazy enough, when I couldn't figure what place or _time_ I was in , but when I brought up the possibly sorcery might be involved in how I got here, they stopped being polite and said it out loud. And some of them threw things at me. And said some things that while I'm not sure what that means, I don't think I should repeat in mixed company. Since then, I've been trying to keep my head down, and just survive until I figure out a plan. And so for all I've managed to do if fine a place to sleep that's somewhat covered from the rain."

Annie's head moved to see the tree they were under. "So what exactly happened to you?''

"Two days ago, I was in the time in place I belong," Merlin began, "Sixth century Camelot. I was just-"

"Wow, wow, hold on there a second," Annie cut in, "Did you just say Camelot?"

"Yes," Merlin answered caciously, "Why?"

"We can get back to that later," Annie said, deciding that issue could wait until she had the whole story, "Please, go on."

" I was just minding my own business," Merlin began again," Then next thing I know, I'm surrounded by people walking around in strange clothes, buildings like I've never seen before, some of the people are openly walking with strange metal devices stuck onto their ears, and these bizarre metal boxes whizzing by. Then I what I told you about earlier happened, me dispersedly looking anybody who could tell me what was going on, everybody thinking I was insane, when I finally got the year out of someone they added it's the year I should think about getting sober. Between you and me I think it's the year I should start drinking. Heavily."

Annie chuckled. Merlin smiled. He liked making her laugh. "So anyway," He continued, "That was two days ago, I've been here ever since."

"You've been sleeping on a park bench for two days?" Annie asked, concerned.

"Yes," Merlin answered, almost sounding embarrassed, "I have nowhere else to go. I have no money-I don't even know what the currency is here, and it's not exactly like I know anyone here."

"Well," Annie said, taking Merlin's arms and leaning in, "You do now. Look, I live-well, maybe live isn't the right word for in, reside more accurately, at an old bread and breakfast not far from here, that's a place that kind of like an inn. Come back with me. We'll have to talk it over with my housemates, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind you staying, at least for a little bit."

"Thank you." Merlin said, gratefully.

"Well," Annie began, "Now, that we have that settle, come on. I can't ghost back with you 'cause you're a living thing, so we'll have to walk."

"Shouldn't be problem," Merlin said, standing up, "I've been walking my whole life, why stop now?" Then noticing people starting to stare, he said quietly, "Um, probably shouldn't talk to a person no one else can see in public."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Annie said, but as they were walking away, added, "There something you should know about my housemates."

"What?" Merlin asked.

"They're Werewolves."

"No!" Gorge exclaimed, standing beside Nina, both of who were standing in front of Annie and Merlin, who were seated on the couch, "Absolutely not!"

"Come on, Gorge," Annie insisted, "Be reasonable. The kid literally has nowhere else to go." It was decided before they went in that Merlin would let Annie do the talking.

"We understand Annie," Nina added, '"But isn't there somewhere else you can take him? A homeless shelter or a gingerbread house-"

"He's not the witch from _Hansel and Gretel," _Annie said, "He's not gonna eat the baby when it gets here, if that's what you're worried about."

"How do you know?" George demanded, "You only just met him. For all you know he might not even be a wizard. He could just be a nutter.'"

"I'm not a nutter." Merlin spoke up.

"Merlin," Annie began, turning to him, "We agreed that-""

"That you would do the talking, I know, I know," Merlin began, "But, I am not crazy."

"Okay," Nina said, "We'll give you the benefit of the doubt since, this isn't exactly a stretch for us, but-" Nina sighed, "Did Annie tell you what's been going on lately? With our friend Mitchell and the other vampires?"

"Yes," Merlin said, sympathetically, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," Nina said almost sadly, "But that's not why I brought it up. Any day now we could be besieged with psycho-killer vampires and we cannot be responsible for your safety."

"I can take care of myself," Merlin told her, "You guys aren't the first supernatural creatures I've met and many of them were not friendly. Annie's not even the first dead person I've ever met, and the last dead person I met, tried to kill me, and several other people."

Nina looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're not actually considering letting him stay." Gorge said in disbelief.

"Actually I was going to ask him to elaborate on that last one," Nina began, "But I'm getting open-minded to the idea of letting him stay."

"Are you kidding-" Before Gorge could finish there was a knock at the door. "Really? Now?" Gorge lamented, "Hold on, just let me see who that is." He ran over to the door, and opened it, finding to his horror, two men, and two women. He could tell instantaneously that they were vampires. And not just because of the smell, and looks of evil, malice and blood-lust on their faces. They also had a terrified coal black-haired girl wearing nothing but a threadbare shirt, with her hands tied in front of her. While the Old Ones were curious about what Gorge and Nina's baby would be, and therefore most vampires knew to stay away for now if they knew what was good for them, this group only cared about retaliation for the deaths of Mitchell and the Old One, mainly the Old One since Mitchell was becoming Persona Non Grata again. Knowing they weren't going to be let in, they grabbed the unfortunate girl in terrified her into letting them in when they tossed her in. Which they did before anyone had time to react. Gorge managed to catch the petrified girl. "Now, dearie," The leader of the group, a man with ginger hair, instructed in a silky smooth voice with a hint of malice, "Let us in."

"You don't have to do it," George gently told her, "We can protect you from him."

"But what about your sister?" The ginger vampire said, "Who's gonna protect her?"

"You have-you have Jamie?" The girl asked, her voice trembling.

"No," The ginger vampire said, "But we have people in front of your house, ready and waiting. Now be a good girl and let us in."

"I'm sorry," The girl cried, "Come in."

And with that the vampires came at them, and unfortunately they were standing in the only area of the house unprotected by crossed. Merlin quickly made a gesture to the pile of stakes in the corner, and screamed, "_Ah, Du La Nagela!" _With those words, the stakes flew across the room into the chest of each vampire turning them into piles dry brown dust.

When the dust latterly settled, everyone was silent for a moment, then at last Nina spoke. "The wizard stays."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while to put it mildly. I really shouldn't have started four stories at the same time. Fortunately today is the official first day of Spring Break so I hope to get more done on this story over said break. **

Annie put a classified ads down on the table. It had been a day since Merlin had killed the four rouge vampires. They quickly ran down the girl, whose name was Heather, after she fled the house in fright. They went to Heather's house and took out the vampire the rouges had hiding in hand in front of the house, and convinced her parents not to call the authorities. So now that issue was dealt with, they now sent to the task of helping their new friend set up a life in this strange new world he found himself in. That meant among others things a job.

"Oh, look at this one," George said, pointing at an add, "Wanted, one bar tender, no prior experience required. That could work for you."

"But I don't know anything about bar tending," Merlin said, "I'll look like an idiot. And I had enough of that at my last job." He cringed at the memory of how many times he suffered embarrassment in defending the king. Often at the hands of the king. At that moment Merlin didn't understand why the thought of never seeing Arthur again made him so miserable.

Fortunately before he dwell on it too much, Annie said, "I could teach you how to do it."

All heads turned towards Annie.

"I was a bar tender for a couple of weeks back in Bristol, remember?" Annie reminded them, "Back when everyone could see me. Then I met Saul and he tried to assault me, then he got drunk and died and tried to pull me through his door. " After a moment she added, "Okay, my first tip is don't go out with anyone you meet at the bar."

"I'll keep that in mind," Merlin said, "Were you any good at being a bar tender?"

"Extremely," Annie assured him, "Just do what I say, and you'll get the job."

"Alright then," Merlin said, "Teach me how to be a bar tender."

An hour later Annie had gathered every beer, wine, and various spirits-that is, of the alcoholic variety- in the house as well as every glass and had them laid out on the counter. Merlin was sat on the other side of the counter looking at them, egger to learn.

"Okay," Annie said, from the other side of the counter, "I'd figure we'd start off nice and simple with the different kinds of drinks. They've changed and grown a bit in variety since the sixth century. Now you've got wine, beer, rum, ale, snaps, whisky, I think you get a point. So, where do want to start?"

They spent about two hours getting the names on the drinks down. But by the time they were done, Merlin could tell what each of them of where just by looking at them, he didn't even have to read the labels."Well," Annie said, "Now that we got that down, let's move on," She pulled a wine in front of Merlin, "To glasses."

"Glasses?" Merlin asked.

"Yes," Annie said, pulling out a wine bottle, "You see, you have a different glass for almost every type of drink, and in some cases there are certain ways you have to pour them, but since this is only a pub job, you probably won't have to know about that."

"Why do I have a feeling we're going to be here a while?" Nina asked, from her and George's spot on the side lines.

As it turned they weren't there all that long. Merlin was a quick study with the glasses and within in a hour could pour tequila into a shot glass like he had been doing it for years.

"He learns every quickly," George commented, "I'll give him that."

"Okay, now comes something a bit more difficult," Annie said, dropping a cocktail shaker down on the counter," "Cocktails."

That took the rest of the day. And while Annie Merlin went over just about every cocktail ever invented, Gorge and Nina had time to realize one fatal flaw in their plan, and talk it over. As Merlin shook up on final Harvey Wall banger, Nina and Gorge stepped forward and Nina said, "Ah, guys, we just realized we may have a problem."

"What?" Annie asked as she and Merlin turned to face them.

"Merlin doesn't have any documentation," George picked off where Nina left off, "So this might be all academic."

"Why does this change anything?" Merlin asked, unaware of the information age he was in.

"Look, Merlin, come sit down," Nina said, gently sitting him down in a chair. She figured she needed to ease him gently into this, like a goldfish from one tank to another. "Now a day's almost everything is documented and other people have easy access to it, and it's common practice for employers to look at these documents before hiring someone. It's called a background check."

"Oh," Merlin responded, quietly and bit concerned, "And there's no way to get around it?"

"There might be one way," Annie said.

For the second time that day everyone turned to look at her.

"Before Mitchell died, he told me how vampires get new identies," Annie explained, "He even told me where one of the people who provides these services is. A human one who will basically work for anyone who pays her enough."

"Will she see us?" Gorge asked.

"Like I said, she'll provide her services to _anyone _ who pays her enough," Annie answered, "But since she's human, she can't see me so one of you will have to make the appointment. The good news is I can show you where she is."

"How soon can we go?" Merlin asked eagerly.

"Well," Annie said, "It's much too late down, so I'll take you and Gorge to her place in the morning."

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" Nina asked.

"Oh, and Nina too." Annie said.

Not long after that, everyone went to bed. Well, everyone that is except Annie who wondered around the house. She had come by the room Merlin was in, and saw that he wasn't actually on the bed, he was lying on top of it, staring up at the ceiling. She walked into the doorway. "Hey," She said quietly.

Merlin turned his head to face her voice. "Hey," He said, sitting up, "What are you doing still awake?"

"Well, I don't really sleep," Annie said, "It's part of the whole being dead thing. So, what about you? What's keeping you up?"

Merlin sat a moment in thought, trying find a way to put what he was feeling into words. So much had happened. He was in a strange place, wearing strange clothes that belonged to a man he barely knew-Gorge let Merlin borrow some of his until he could acquire his own-and everything was just so-different. " Remember how yesterday when I was confused about the electric lights, how there was light but no candles, and you told Nina and Gorge it was culture shock?" He asked Annie.

"Well-it's just...more culture shock," Merlin said, "First there's the technology, and ways people act, women in trousers, and now-background checks? How do I even begin to make it here?"

Annie sat down next to him. "Well," She began, "You're gonna begin with a little help from your friends. Me and Gorge and Nina. I mean, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, in fact, between the whole, ripped away from your friends, family, and all you've ever known thing, and having to adjust to a completely alien environment, it's gonna be pretty hard, we're gonna be there for you, and you'll be find, you might even learn to like it. "

"I think I already am," Merlin said, placing his hand on top of Annie's, "Thank you."

"No problem," Annie said, "Now, do you think you can get some sleep now? You got a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

"I think I can manage," Merlin said, smiling a little. Annie got up, and Merlin pulled back the sheets to get in. "Good night Annie."

"Goodnight, Merlin," Annie said, once again beginning her trek thought the halls.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Merlin, Being Human Flowers In The Attic **_**by V.C. Andrews, **_**Seeds Of Yesterday, **_**by V.C. Andrews or the V.C. Andrews name. Also, a warning to those who might want to look for these novels: There is some content in these novels that some people might view as disturbing, me actually being one of them. You've been warned.**

"And, how are suppose to know this person when we see her?" Nina asked, as they walked into the dinner.

"She'll be the one reading the V.C. Andrews novel." Annie answered.

"Which V.C. Andrews novel?" Nina asked.

"It could be anyone of them," Annie said, "She doesn't always read the same one."

"Well, that's rubbish," George commented, "How is anyone suppose to know who to go to if you don't know what book they're looking for?"

"You can't blame her for wanting a little variety," Annie said, "After you read it so many times, _Flowers In The Attic _gets a little boring."

"I think that's her, over there," Merlin said, pointing to a table in the back where a petite, very pale skinned girl in a long grey coat had her face buried into a book that had _V. C. Andrews _ in white letters, above the words _Seeds Of Yesterday, _but below words too small for Merlin to make out, all in white on a black background with green vines and purple flowers, with the image of a young blonde girl's face in the center.

"Yeah, I'd say that's a good guest," Annie said.

The four walked towards the table, and stooped just sort of it. The young woman was so engrossed in her book she didn't even notice them. "Excuse me," Nina begin, "Are you, by any chance, Corrine White?"

The girl moved the book down slightly, reveling a set of deep green eyes. "Who wants to know?" She asked.

"We're in need of your-services," Nina answered, "Our friend Merlin here needs to start fresh, we were told you were the one who could help him past a background check."

She sat the book down completely now, reveling her beautiful face, striking features, pearly pink cheeks and high cheekbones framed by wispy and fine hair as black as an old frying pan. "Which one of you two guys is he?" She asked moving the book back and forth between George and Merlin.

Merlin stepped forward. "I'm Merlin," He said somewhat nervously.

"Sit down," Corrine said, gesturing to the chair across the from her.

Merlin sat down. "So," Corrine said, "You're not a Vampire. I would know. But there is some different about you."

Merlin's eyes darted around the room to make sure no one else was in earshot then he lowered his voice as he said, "Sorcerer."

Corrine's eyes widened. "Really," She said, sounding intrigued. She had met a lock of interesting people in this job, Werewolves, Vampires, some of who were real pieces of work, but a wizard of sorcerer, or whatever he wanted to call himself, well, that was something new. "Never met one of those before."

"That's what Annie said," Merlin exclaimed, but then he remembered Corrine couldn't see Annie, "Oh, sorry that's..."

"Your friend in the leggings?" Corrine said, sounding almost amused at the surprised look on their faces, "I'm half-Vampire, I can see ghost. "

There was a collative sigh of "Oh, " from the group. 'Well," Corrine said, taking out a lap top and a stack of papers from the black bag at her side, "Let's get down to business. Now, are you sticking with that first name?"

"Yes," Merlin said, sounding a bit disconcerted.

"Well," Corrine said, looking through something on her computer, " I don't have any identities with that name ready, but if you give me a week I can have it ready."

Merlin looked over to the others for guidance. Nina nodded. Then he looked back at Corrine. "That would be expectable."

"Now let's talk about how much this is gonna cost us." Nina, apparently the group's spokesperson, said.

"Us?" Corrine asked.

"Needless to say Merlin here is indigent at the moment so we are fitting the bill," Nina explained, "I mean I doubt you're running a charity here."

"I'm not," Corrine said, "And on that note, my going rate is two grand."

"What?!" Nina exclaimed, "How many Vampires actually have two thousand quid?"

"I never said it was non-negotiable," Corrine replied, then leaning back, continued, "Tell you what, since it might not as good as some others, and clearly you guys need all the money you can get with Blondie here in the family way, I'll give it to you for four hundred. And he takes me out for a drink." She was pointing at Merlin.

Merlin balked at her for a second. "Me?"

"Yeah," Corrine replied, shrugging, "You're kinda cute."

"Thank you," Merlin said, "But what exactly am I agreeing to?"

"Sometimes an early part of the modern courting ritual is going out and getting a drink," Annie explained.

Merlin's eyes widened in disbelief.

"It's just drinks," Corrine said, not getting what the big deal was, "Look, I understand you need to get settled, so how about a week a from when you get your info?"

"Alright," Merlin said, "Deal." Then he held his hand out to Corrine.

"Good old fashioned handshake," She observed, shaking his hand, "I like that."

After that the group left the dinner and walked down the street in silence until George said, "Did we just pimp Merlin out?"

"No," Nina said awkwardly, "And besides, like she said, it's just drinks, not an arranged marriage. And besides, two grand? How many people actually pay that?"

"Even I know that was high," Merlin said, "Have you ever heard someone being half-vampire before?"

"No," Gorge admitted, "That is a new one. I guess that's where she gets her eccentric career choice from."

"And a couple of other things," Annie mumbled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Okay, I know this chapter may seem somewhat pointless but trust me, it all ties in, it's all gonna come together eventually, just please stay with me. **

A week later they went back to the dinner. Corrine was in the same corner table, wearing the same long grey coat, the only thing different was this time she was reading a book called _Secrets Of The Morning, _ with a castle on the cover, on a purple background with a girl's face in the center. Merlin sat down at the table and slid four hundred quid bills on the table. Corrine took it an counted out the bills, saying, "There's a pub on Fifth Street, called The Library, it's right across from a used book store, how does eight next Saturday sound?"

"Fine," Merlin replied, trying his best to sound- business like.

Satisfied that she had been given the right about of money, Corrine pulled a plain white folder out of her satchel, and briskly handed it to Merlin, saying, "In here's all the hand copies of the documents, birth certificate, medal records, as well a driver's license and organ donor card." She addressed Gorge, Nina and Annie as she added, "But considering the circumstances please one of you teach him to drive before he uses it."

"We'll be sure to do that," George said.

"See that you do," Corrine responded, " By the way, you're name is now Merlin Smith, I made up for the uncommon first name by pairing it with the most common last name I could find. Now, it's been a pleasure, doing business with all of you, but I got other clients to see."

Taking the hint, they made their way to leave, with a taut " Goodbye," from Nina.

"Goodbye," Corrine replied , a bit more cheerily, "See you next Saturday, Merlin."

"See you then," Merlin said, awkwardly.

As they walked out the door another young man with shaved brown hair walked in. He turned around when he saw them, looking surprised. "Gorge? Nina?" He exclaimed.

"Tom?" Gorge replied, equally surprised, "We haven't seen you since, well, you know."

"Yeah," Tom said solemnly.

"Where have you been?" Nina asked.

"I've been working here," Tom explained, "I had to leave this morning to get more ketchup." He held up a grocery bad to elaborate.

It was then that Annie noticed Merlin watching the exchange with a slight confused expression. "Oh my gosh, I don't believe how rude we're being. Merlin this an old friend of ours, Tom McNair, Tom, this our new friend Merlin."

"Nice to meet you," Tom said, extending his hand.

"You too," Merlin said, taking his hand.

"There's something different about you," Tom blurted out.

"So people keep telling me." Merlin replied, "Please tell me your some sort of supernatural creature too and that's how you that."

"Yeah," Tom confirmed, "I'm a Werewolf. Don't worry, no one else can tell. Except, maybe Corrine back there but only because she's half-Vampire."

"We know," Merlin said, "We just had meeting with her."

There was some sort of recognition in Tom's eyes as she said, "Oh, you must be the wizard she was going on about the other day."

"Yeah," He admitted sheepishly. He moved so he was looking back at Corrine, who had her face buried in her book. Was she telling it to everyone?

"Oh, don't worry," Tom said, as if reading his mind , "She only told me. Sometimes she tells me things because she knows I won't tell anyone and she wants to talk to someone about it." He looked back at her, then turned back to the troop and whispered in a low voice, "Personally I think she likes you more than she's letting on."

"I have to be honest with you," Merlin said, "I have mixed feeling about that."

"I don't blame you," Tom said, "She can be a real piece of work sometimes." When he saw the look on Merlin's face, she added, "But she can also be really nice. A bit bookish, a somewhat creepy fascination with V.C. Andrews, but still really nice."

"Thanks," Merlin said, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

"Well," Tom said, almost solemnly, "I really need to get back to work, but it was nice seeing you again. Really, it was. We should get together again, sometime." If he was completely honest, George, Nina and Annie were his only friends, and he had been downright lonely lately.

"We'll try to, Tom," Annie promised. Then they all slipped out the door.

The next day, Merlin went in for that job interview, which fortunately hadn't already been taken.

"It says here that you waiter ," The owner of the pub, a broad-shouldered, dark-haired man named Eliot O'Hara observed, looking at the resume.

"Yes Sir," Merlin confirmed, nodding, "In a dinner in Cornwall for the last four years."

"So why did you stop working there?" Eliot asked.

"The place burned down," Merlin lied. He and the others had worked out a cover story the night before. He had to admit, the history Corrine had concocted made it pretty easy. "The owner couldn't afford to rebuild, so I headed up here looking for work saw this add in the classifies."

"But you don't actually have any experience as a bar tender?" Eliot inquired.

"No," Merlin admitted, "But one of the women where I'm living right now, Annie, she used to be a bar tender, so she showed me the ropes." That part wasn't a lie. That _was _what happened.

"Well," Eliot said, lying the paper down, "Let's see how good Annie is at teaching. Come over here." Eliot walked over to the bar and Merlin followed. Eliot sat down at the bar, and Merlin went to the other side. "So, what will it be?" Merlin asked.

"Stoch on the rocks," Eliot responded.

"Coming right up," Merlin said, then he turned around, took a small glass, grabbed some ice from a nearby ice container, put it in the glass, grabbed a nearby bottle of stoch, poured it in, and turned back around with a glass in hand. "There you go." He said, putting it on the counter in front of Eliot. Eliot gulped the drink. He had to admit, he liked this kid. He seemed a bit timid at first, but he had skills. "That will be all for today," Eliot said, "If I decide to hire you, I'll call you at the number you gave me."

"Thank you, sir," Merlin said, "Goodbye." Then he walked out of the bar.

"So, how do you think it went?" Annie asked, back at the house, as he sat beside Merlin on the couch. He was now sandwiched between her and George.

"I'm not sure," Merlin admitted, "He didn't really show a lot of emotion. Or any at all. He's probably very good at playing cards."

"Don't worry," Annie said reassuringly, "I'm sure you did great."

"Well," Merlin said, looking over at Annie, "I did learn from the best."

"Are you two deliberately trying to gushy?" Nina asked from her spot in a nearby chair.

Just than the phone rang. "I'll get it," George said, getting up. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello?" After a moment George said, "Sure, he's right here." Then he walked over to the couch, held out the phone to Merlin, and said, "It's for you."

Merlin cacously took the phone and held it up to his ear. He still really didn't trust these things. "Hello?" He said nervously. After a minute of the other person taking he said, "Hello, Mr. O'Hara." Then after another moment of Eliot talking Merlin said," That's great, oh thank you, thank you, sir, you won't regret this, I promise you." After a moment Merlin said, "Yes, I can start right away." He was getting tired to being virtually, completely dependent on the others. But Merlin's face fell as Eliot kept talking. "Only Monday through Friday?" Merlin asked. After another minute he said, "You have another bar tender for weekends?" After a minute he asked, "And you're sure you won't need me then?" After a moment , Merlin said, "Thank you sir, I'll be in first thing tomorrow. Goodbye, Mr. O'Hara." Then Eliot hung up. Merlin threw his head back and groaned.

"What is it?" Annie asked.

"The good news is, I got the job," Merlin said.

"That's fantastic!" Annie said, lunging over and hugging him.

"Congratulations," Gorge added.

"Good for you, Merlin, " Nina added, " Really, it's great."

"Yeah, but I only work Monday through Friday," Merlin said, "He apparently had another bar tender already employed who does the weekends."

"And this has got you so down because-?" Nina asked.

"I was hoping I could use not wanting to ask for time off on my first week as an excuse to get out of my date with Corrine," Merlin said.

"It's just drinks," Nina reassured him, reiterating her statement from the week before, "Have you not ever...dated anyone or something?"

"No, it's not that," Merlin said, straitening up a bit, as if to meet to the actuation, "I have courted a girl before, though our courtship wasn't exactly traditional by either era's standards."

Annie turned towards Merlin in surprise. "How so?"

"Well," Merlin began, a little afraid of what they might think, "I had saved her, Freya, her name was, from a bounty hunter, she had magic, you see, like I do. Well, not exactly like I do, but you get the point. I hid her anyway, kept her safe, and we fell in, but she was cursed. At night she turned into a monster. We were going to run away with her, but then she turned into the monster and the knights attacked her-" His voice trailed off, "And then she died."

Everyone was quiet for the moment and there was very solemn tone in the air. At last Annie spoke. "Oh, Merlin," She said, "I'm so sorry."

"How long ago was this?" Nina asked, "If you don't mind my asking."

"About five years, in my time," Merlin answered, still very solemn, "Must be a couple hundred years by this time."

"It's alright for you to move one, you know," Nina said gently, "I'm sure she'd want you to be happy."

"It's not that," Merlin said, snapping out of his melancholy, "The problem is that this girl scares me. Well, maybe scared isn't the right word, it's just...she makes fake identities for vampires for a living. I mean think of the company she keeps."

"You do remember our friend Mitchell was a vampire, right?" Gorge asked.

"Right, sorry," Merlin said, "I know not all vampires are bad."

"It's alright," Gorge said, "I'll admit the major of the vampires are killer megalomaniacs."

"George, I don't think that's helping," Nina said.


	6. Chapter 6

At the end of the week the big day had arrived. Even having a week to think about it, Merlin still didn't feel any better about it. "I feel like I walking strait into my own execution," He told Annie as he slipped on black jacket over a long-sleeved green shirt.

"It'll be fine," Annie said, getting up from the bed, walking over to Merlin and put a hand on his shoulder, "If you asked me, she seemed perfectly nice. A bit cheeky, but cheeky can be a good thing in the right circumstances."

"I'll keep that in mind," Merlin replied, "But still, if I don't come back, send someone to look for me, but don't risk your lives over it."

"We'll keep that in mind," Annie said, a bit of a laugh in her voice, "At least you look nice."

"Thanks," Merlin said.

Annie followed Merlin down the stairs all the way to the door. "See you later," He said as he walked out the door.

"Good luck Merlin," Annie said.

"Thanks," Merlin said, as he headed down the street.

"And try to have fun!" Annie called out, halfway out of the doorway.

A half-hour walk later Merlin was at _The Library_ sitting at the bar, waiting anxiously for Corrine to arrive. He was staring at the front entrance when he heard voice behind him say, "Hey."

Merlin turned around to see Corrine standing behind him. Or rather in front of him, now.

If she was being completely honest-though she hardly ever was- Corrine was a little nervous about this date as well. Not for the reasons Merlin was, though; she was nervous for fear it wouldn't go well. She had always drawn the attention of boys since before boys and girls were even suppose to like each other, but whenever she would actually go out with one, something would always go wrong. The boy would take her to a place filled with vampires, or a they'd walk in the park under the full moon which made her nervous on instinct alone, or there's be a ghost in the back table of the restraint, distracting her, or the guy would just ask her what she did for a living. If only she had been a normal girl. But still Corrine sucked it up and dressed in the outfit she liked to wear when going out: a long-sleeved black shirt and tight black pants with matching leather shoes. She placed a black fedora on her head (though one had to wonder the wisdom of that choice since she had black hair). As for jewelry, she kept it simple, a sliver ring and her mother's coral necklace for luck.

From where he was standing Merlin had no complaints about how Corrine was dressed. In fact, if _he _was being honest, he rather liked what he saw. That grey coat she had worn at the dinner did not in any way do her justice. But in the tight black number she was wearing now, he could see she had an hour glass-waist. Even with the long sleeves, he could see her long limbs, her narrow shoulders. Her necklace brought attention to her graceful neck. She was so beautiful it was almost perverse."Hey yourself," Merlin said, pulling out a seat for her.

She sat down, commenting, " I guess chivalry isn't dead after all." The pair then sat in awkward silence for a moment then at last Corrine said, "So, how have you've been since-last week?"

"I've been good," Merlin said, "I got a job at a pub. Your back story really helped."

Corrine laughed, reveling teeth that were almost too white. "Glad to be of help. Kinda feel bad now, dragging you to a bar after you've spent your whole week in one."

"Don't," Merlin said sincerely, loosening up a bit, "I don't mind. So, what about you? How have you been since..well, last week."

"I had a couple of vampires come in, looking for new identities," Corrine answered, "There seem to be a lot than usual lately, Vampires, I mean. It's like there's some mass Vampire exodus to Wales or something."

"Yeah," Merlin began, "How did you wind up doing that anyway? Making identities for Vampires, I mean?"

Corrine should have known they'd come to that eventually. She sighed. "Look, I'm gonna be strait with you, that's a personal matter for me," Corrine said, "Maybe when I get to know you better, okay?"

"Okay," Merlin replied. He understood completely. "I can live with that. So, where do you want to start?"

Corrine thought a minute. That was a good question. "How about family?" She said at last. It was the only thing she could think of.

Merlin paused a moment, then at last said, "Alright." He took a minute to gather his thoughts, then said, "I haven't seen my mother much in the past few years, and now, I guess she's dead."

"You _guess_ ?" Corrine replied. That seemed like a pretty big thing to guess about.

"It's complicated," Merlin said, bottling up again. He wasn't ready to tell he wasn't for a different time and had no idea how he got here.

"My mom's dead too," Corrine said, "She, ah, died a couple of years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Merlin said sincerely, "Was she the one who was the..." His voice trailed off. That was probably another personal matter.

But to Merlin's surprise, Corrine quickly said, "No, she was human. It was my dad that was the Vampire."

"Did they have to tell you, or have you always know or..." Merlin's voice trailed off again.

"My mother told me," Corrine replied, "When she thought I was old enough to understand."

That confused Merlin a bit. If her father was the Vampire, why was her mother telling her?

"My dad wasn't actually in the picture," Corrine explained, as if reading his thoughts, "He took off before I was born, before Mom knew she was pregnant. He said it was for her protection, but she didn't know whether to believe that or not, after he told her he was a vampire she never really trusted him again, he kept it a secret for so long. She wasn't even sure the name he gave was genuine, but she thought his name was John."

"I never knew my father either," Merlin confessed, "I met him once, but he died shortly after." After a moment he asked, "Is that why you like those novels so much? All the family secrets?"

"Huh?" Corrine replied, confused.

"After Tom called your fascination with V.C Andrews creepy I decide to research her," Merlin said, "And that is the one common denominator for both her and her ghostwriter. Including one that I think involved Vampires."

The _Kindred _series," Corrine said, "But actually, I just like to read. The reason I always read V.C. Andrews at work is because waiting for Vampires to show up can get boring, I need something to do, and like I said I love to read, but I need some way for clients to know it's me, and those covers have her name on their in big bold letters. Especially that original American covers. You can't miss them and there's sixty-nine of books total, so I have a lot of options."

"And the fact that there's a character in one of them named Corrine has nothing to do with it?" Merlin joked.

"No!" Corrine laughed, "That's like the worst namesake ever. You got so much luckier, even with the irony."

"Excuse me?" Merlin replied.

"You know, with the name Merlin," Corrine elaborated, "I mean under normal circumstances as namesakes go it's not bad, but when you're already a wizard and you're named after one of, if not the most famous wizard in history? Your parents either had to be drunk or had no idea you were gonna be a wizard when they named you."

"Actually," Merlin began, looking about around, "About that..."

"What?" Corrine asked.

Merlin lowered his voice as he said, "I was gonna wait to tell you this but since you've been so honest with me about this personal stuff, I think I should tell you, I'm not originally from this century."

Corrine tilted her head slightly. "Are you serious?"

"As a plague," Merlin confirmed, "You make indenities for Vampires all day, you're friends with a werewolf, you yourself are half Vampire, is me being from the past really so hard to believe?"

She though a minute than said, "You're right. Please continue."

"I'm from the 6th century," Merlin explained, "I'm not even sure how I got here, but,-here I am. I honestly don't know what I would've if Annie would've found me. "

"So are you from?" Corrine asked, "Camelot?" She meant it as a joke.

"Mmm," Merlin began," Actually..."

Corrine gapped before saying, "No way."

"Yes," Merlin replied than after a second somewhat awkwardly added, "Way."

"And are you..." Corrine began, but her voice trailed off. She was getting excited.

"We think so," Merlin admitted, "I mean, somewhere along the line someone _really _tool some literary license along the way but, yeah, I'm _the _Merlin."

Corrine just gapped, looking almost like she was hyperventilating, and maybe she was, putting her hand over her mouth.

"Are you alright?" Merlin said, concerned, looking at her like she just drew another head.

"Yeah," Corrine said, "It's just...wow. I-I don't believe it. I mean, you look so young."

"That's because I am young," Merlin said, "Well, youngish, I mean, I'm twenty-six. Like I said, somewhere down the line, someone changed several details. And not just little details, either. Big ones."

"Really," Corrine said, intrigued, "Tell me more."

Merlin spent the next thirty-minutes comparing and contrasting the legend of King Arthur with what actually happened. "Wow," Corrine said, shaking her head, but smiling, "Wow."

"Is that a good wow or a bad wow?" Merlin asked.

"Just-wow," Corrine said, putting the drink she had got to her pale pink lips.

"Honestly, I don't know how they messed some of those facts up," Merlin said, " I mean seriously, how could they think Morid was Arthur's son, worst still the son he had with Morgana, who they still had as his half-sister only on the mother's side, instead of the father's side like it actually was."

"I sure it wasn't on purpose," Corrine said, "It was probably just a result of Chinese Whispers."

"What?" Merlin asked, not knowing what that was.

"Chinese Whispers, it's a game," Corrine explained, "It's also known as Telephone or Gossip. Basically everyone sets in a circle someone starts that game by whispering a statement in someone ear and usually as the statement is passes around people hear it wrong and embellished and sometimes by the time it gets back around it's a complete different sentence. The same thing happened with old stories, before someone wrote them down. Someone gets the side Arthur and Morgana were related on messed up and tells it how he remembers it, some snob thinks a king marrying a serving girl sounds bad so they leave that part out, someone gets your age a little wrong, than someone else gets it a _lot _wrong and vola, by the time someone actually writes it down the story's complete changed from what actually happened. Does that make sense?"

"Certainly," Merlin said.

"I just have one more question," Corrine said.

"What?" Merlin asked, wondering what there could possibly left to explain.

"Now that you're here," Corrine began, "Are you going to stay?"

"Excuse me?" Merlin responded.

" I mean, surely you want to find some way to get back to your own time," Corrine said.

"I don't know," Merlin admitted, "I mean, there's nothing really left there for me anymore, and besides, even if I did want to get back, I have no idea where to even begin. I've heard of, seen, or read about anything like this. And I can't find anything that help me. I mean, the other me and Annie went the library-not here, but an actual library where you check out books- and all we found was some new age stuff that was as far from facts as you can be without completely making it up, which I think they might have been."

Corrine was quiet or moment than she smiled. "I think I can help you with that."

Merlin cocked his head a little bit. "How?"

"What do you say we get out of here and I'll show you," Corrine answered slyly and mysteriously.

Eighteen or so minutes later the couple were in a book store that specialized in two things: Antique books and books on the occult, and on occasion the two coincided. "How about this one?" Corrine asked, raising up a long, hard-backed book, "It looks promising."

Merlin looked over at the book. "Time-travel through astro-perjection. " He didn't say anything for moment, then said, "Well, I'm pretty certain I'm all here. Maybe I should make sure, though." Jokingly, he pinched himself. "Yeah, I'm here," Merlin confirmed, "Mind, body, and soul, all in one package."

Corrine laughed. "So no then," She said when she was done laughing.

"Yeah," Merlin said, "I mean, no, I mean-"

"I got it," Corrine said, than she pushed the growing pile of rejects and something caught her eye. "Oh, my lanta," She said, pulling the book from its spot on the very back shelf, "Merlin, take a look at this."

Something in her voice made Merlin throw down the book he was looking at, and walk over to her to get a better look at it. The book looked absolutely ancient, made of cracked and peeling leather with pages made of sheep skin, and words written with sooty ink in fancy lettering. "This-"Merlin began, "This could be something." He flipped through the pages. "I actually recognize some of the things in here. This-this is a genuine article, magic book."

Corrine looked around. Then she looked back to Merlin and asked, "How much money did you bring?"

"I wanted to be safe, so I figured about, sixty quid would do it," Merlin said.

"Okay," Corrine said, adding up the numbers, "That drink you insisted on paying for was eight sixteen, so that leaves you with..." She looked down at the book and said, "Probably nowhere near enough."

"Yeah, probably should've thought of that earlier," Merlin said, putting it back on the shelf, "It probably wouldn't of have anything that could help me, anyway."

Corrine looked around, then said, "Yeah, but it still might."

"I guess we'll never know," Merlin said.

"Merlin," Corrine said, turning him around to look at her, "There is another way to deal with this."

"What?" Merlin asked confused.

Corrine raised up her tote, grabbed the book and when no one was looking started to stuff it in. Merlin, very startled, grabbed her arm, and whispered, "What are you doing? Stop that!"

"You want the book, don't you?" Corrine asked.

"Yes, but-" Merlin took a moment to gathered his thoughts then said, "I'd rather find some other way, than to steal something."

"I gotta be frank, that honesty is somewhat attractive," Corrine said, "Tell you what, let's compromise. You might not get a break like this again, so we'll got up front and see if they have layaway."

"Ah, I'm not a child," Merlin said, picking up the book that was the source of all the conflict, "I can go up front myself and ask about layaway." He began to walk up front with the book than turned around and added, "By the way what is layaway?"

As it turned out, the store had recently started offering layaway in hopes it would increase business. Merlin put a forty dollar down payment on the book, and then he and Corrine left. As they walked down the street, Merlin spoke up. "Corrine, would you have _really _stole that book?"

"Wow, good question actually," Corrine said. She pursued her lips, thinking, " I mean, for the record, I never stolen anything before, I don't want you to think I'm a kleptomaniac or anything. I didn't intend on committing grand larceny when we went in." She was quiet for a minute and said, "It's just-like you said, you got no idea how this happened, you need somewhere, to start, and frankly I felt bad that I brought you in there in the first place. I mean, you're living day to day, I should've known you could never afford anything in that store. I mean, what was I thinking?"

"It's alright," Merlin said, "You were just trying to help."

"Yeah," She said, somewhat sadly, "I guess."

Merlin looked over there, somewhat worried. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just-" Corrine sighted, "I'm really having a great time tonight, and I really don't want this night to end."

"Yeah," Merlin said, somewhat surprised to hear himself saying this, "I'm having a better time than I thought I would, too."

Corrine slowed down and looked at him, "I know this gonna sound, really cliché, but-it's been a long time since I've connected with someone like this."

That surprised Merlin. "Connected?"

"Yeah," Corrine said, looking down, "I know, it's sounds so stupid and probably off-putting."

"No, it's not," Merlin replied, "Actually I was feeling the same way." After a minute Merlin added, "You know, I could always-walk you home."

"Yeah," Corrine said, "I think I'd like that."

It was a thirty-minute walk from that bookstore to Corrine's flat. They spent that whole time still enthralled in conversation, generally enjoying each other's company. Corrine was wishing more that she hadn't helped him out, because if he could find a way to get back...well, he would be gone. And she liked him. In fact she liked him a lot. He was cute, and somewhat awkward, and funny, and had a moral code and...was here. Of course he probably didn't feel the same way. She stopped in front of her building. "Well, this is me." Corrine said, turning to face Merlin, "I really enjoyed myself tonight."

"Me too," Merlin said. He reached his arm over his shoulder and added nervously, "You think you might like to do it again sometime?" In truth, Merlin felt the same way about her as she felt about him. She was beautiful and brilliant and slightly crazy and if he had to be stuck here he wouldn't mind being stuck her with her.

Corrine played it cool, took a pen from her purse, and said, "Give me your hand."

"Alright," Merlin said, extending his hand.

He didn't know what he expected Corrine to do, but he was still surprised when she started writing on it. "This is my phone number," Corrine explained, "Now, I trust your friends have explained to you what a phone is."

"Yes," Merlin replied. Phones still gave him the creeps but he wasn't about to admit it.

"Great, so call me sometime," Corrine said, "You gonna be okay to get home?"

"Yeah," Merlin said, "As luck would have it, it's only a couple of blocks away."

"Really?" Corrine responded, "Didn't realized. Well, latters."

"Latters," Merlin replied, assuming this was some sort of slang he didn't know. He was still a little shaky when it came to customs.

Merlin finally got back to the B&B sometime around eleven. The first thing he saw when he walked through the door was Annie pacing in the living room. She looked up when she heard him come in. "And what sort of time do you call this, Mister?" Annie scolded.

"I don't know," Merlin replied, "What time is it?"

"Almost eleven thirty," Annie said, "You really didn't realize what time it was?"

"No," Merlin answered, "Sorry."

"Well-don't let it happen again." Annie said.

"It won't happen again," Merlin said.

Annie followed Merlin as he walked up the stairs. She said, "I guess that mean the date didn't go well then."

"Where'd you get that from?" Merlin asked.

"The way you said it wouldn't happen again," Annie replied.

"Actually it went rather well," Merlin. Then he held out his hand to her and added, "See, she gave me her number."

"That's great," Annie said, "So she wasn't the psycho you though she's be?"

"No," Merlin said, "No she was not."


End file.
